Machine for the combing or hackling of coco-bristle fibers or other like operations



June 4, 1929- P. v. APPLEBY MACHINE FOR THE COMBING OR HACKLING OF COCOBRISTLE FIBERS OR OTHER LIKE OPERATIONS Filed April 20, 1928 June 4,1929. p, v, P Y 1.715.443

momma FOR THE comsme 0R HACKLING 0F coco Y BRISTLE mamas OR OTHER LIKEOPERATIONS Filed April 20, 1928' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

A ymen 12 I Patented June 4,1929. i

' PERCY vnvnssnun TAPP EBY, or Lennon, mve Annl MACHINE FOR. THE confineApplication filed April '20, 1928,,Seria'1 n6.

This invention relates to machines for, combing or hacklingfibers andJWhllG it is particularly designed for the combmg of coco bristlefibenit may be applied'wlth like'advantage and equal effect to 'thecomb-- ing or hackling of fibers or fibrous: ma-

terial generally. i I

The ob'ectof the present invention is to devise'a simple andleflicientmachine for automatically effecting the combing operations hithertogenerally performed" I hand by native labour in the countries in. whichthe fibers are produced.

Theinvention 6011318128 in a machine forcombing fibers comprisingmeansfor convey ingthe fibers in a direction transverse to the length ofthe fibers and means for combing the samein the direction of theirlength, that is, in a direction transverse tothe d1- rection of travelof the fibers.

The invention also consists in a machine for combing fibers comprising abelt, band or rope conveyor travelling longitudinally of the machine andcarrying fibers which are laid across said conveyor and one orfmorelaterally moving rakes orcombs for combing the fibe'rsin the directionoftheir length,

means being provided for holdingthe fiber "ends during the combingoperations.

The invention further consists in a fiber combing machine according tothe precedmg paragraph in which the fibers are held alternately at oneendand then atthe other so that the whole length of the'fibers may beadequately combed or hackl'ed. p 1

,The invention also consists in 'other de-' tails and arrangementshereinafter"described or indicated.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one convenient mode of carryingjout the'invent Figure l g 7 side elevation of machine Withtheinvention; 7 V

Figure 2 is an end elevation on a some? what larger :scale, and aFigure3is aplan.

.In carrying my invention'into eifectf in one convenient manner as, -forexample, ,in its application to'a ma'ch'me {designed for hackling' cocobristle fiber, :the length of' @Whiclija'ries in general from about;8inches to'fabou't 13 inchesfl form my improved machine with-any suitableframework or enis a more or less diagrammatic- 1n accordance 271,616,andin 'Great Br'itain May 4,1927.

tablature a adapted to carry a conveyor 6 which may comprise two ropesor leather or'metal belt or. band or other suitable conon m gma-or coconnrsrtn meme THER I LIKE or n ArIons.,f.. E I I veyi'ng element whichtravels longitudinally otthe ;-machin'c,means being providcdof" v I anysu1tablespeed' whichmay or ma'y not' be va r1able', and a weightedockeypulley cc.

ora' screw operatoror'other' movable bear-' mg or: other means beingalso preferably.

suitablecharacter to drive the conveyor'nt provided to maintain therequisite degree of tension'in. the beltor jband'oi,fotlier' nember. I

or m'embers comprising the conveyor? Inpractice thegfiber to be combedisla'id uponthe conveyor at the feed end (that is& I the right-hand endof Figure so tofbe carried through the niachine'forthe: various"operationsthat are to be performedtherein and; prefer to fac'ilitatesuch feeding op eration by the -e'1nploymentfof" a', suitable metal rackforlnedl'of Wire or .rodor other suitable materialof substantially Ushape and ofa width sufficient to enableit to span" theconveyor member,the rack "being of a"- suitable length to take asufllcie'nt charge offiber which'jmay' be laidftransversely thereon andbeingconvenientlyfitted with: a handle to facilitateits manipulation sothat a charged rackmay be laid over the feed end of the conveyor Iwhichthereupon' automatically removes the charge of fiber from the rackfor the purpose of conveying the same through. th'emachine. Other sim jilar racks in the meantime Will be prepared with the ,fiber laid'thereonso thatin thisy. the filing of the machine may. 7 be 9 1 substantially"continuous. fFOIf GXaHiple, if.

a rack'is' 2feet'6' incheslong andthe-linear' spec d of the conveyor is15 feet jpenminute a continuous :feed' will require the emptying oif sixracks per minute so that if there-are two operators engaged in" fillingracks the maximum time forffilhng'one rack Will be I 20 seconds. The Ifiber is carried fibers will gripped "be 'efi machine loc ' with tyres(such as d?) of rubber: or other compressible or friction material tofacilitate the gripping of the fiber ends.

In order to compensate for Vary ng thicknes'ses of fiber to be grippedthe uppe'r Wheel of the pair of Wheels is mounted'in a bearing which is'capableof verticalmovernent and the necessary gripping pressure is mamtained in partby the Weight of'the heel and in part also bya-'suitablecounterweight I e acting upon the wheel or its bearingspreferably through the medium ofa compound lever system 6, it beingunderstoochhowever, "that such tCld1l11OIHLlW61ght1Ilg means maynecessary grip. By such an arrangement I the fiber'is thus gripped overa certain dth peripheral speeds of the gripping heels,

be dispensed with if theweight of the Wheel itself be found sufficientto provide the While at the same time travellingalong at the same speedas the conveyor belt, the

i d, df being adjusted for the purpose, so as a} to be equal tothetravelling speed of the-belt.

VWhilethe fiber is thus gripped at one end of the gripping wheels itissubj ectedto the faction of a rake or comb f operated by le'- ,vers orother suitablemechanism seas to be @given arapid motion in a directiontransnermost position-in a path located above the.

verse to the direction of movement of the,

feed belt-and 'thu's in the direction of the length of the fibers tolbecombed.

By a suit ble cam actionorother mech anismthe comb may. be made totravel so that it dips into the fibers only on the out Ward or activestroke,retu-rning to its infiber so as not tof disarrange the combedfibers, i g p 7 In the construction illustrated the neces,

sary movement of the comb or rake is imparted by a suitable crank 9'(preferably counter-balanced) operating upon an arm or'lever f carryingat one end the comb or rake f' (which may COIHPI'ISQIQ, 7, 8 or other"convenient number of teeth" in one or more rows in general limited bythe widthgiover .Which] the fibers are held), the arm or lever f beingsupportedby alink or pair'of links. carrying a roller or rollers I fadapted during the oscillation of the'linksl f to move overa suitablecam path hi so as to impart thedipping motion ofthe comb referred to {inthe preceding "paragraph, and'the' upper V end or ends of the linkorlinks-f be1ng spring-controlled and "movable verticallyasuitable'oscillating bracket -It will be understood, however,[construction is givenpurely byway: of 1llustration and'that any othersuitable means that this may 1 be 5 adopted for applying 1 the necessarythe requisitespeed. Moreover, the feed belt I i and thecombingmecha'nisms may be driven by" separate motors.

The fibers having thus been submitted, to

a. combing'at one end are carriedon by the conveyor until they aregripped at the other end bya similar pair of Wheels 2', @l to thatpreviously described-but located upon theopposite side of the conveyor,and While so gripped the other end of the fiber is then similar to thathereinbei'ore describedand ,75 subjected to a combing operation by arake similarly operated but again located at the opposite side of theconveyor.

These Wheels can be brought more closely together" than shown in Figurel as long as the periphery of one Wheel isc'lear of the axle of the;succeeding Wheel. 7 In this Way the overall length of the machinemay beconsiderablyreduced. a i s v ,7 With some fibers a singlecombing'operation at each end may be found suffic ent but With otherfibers it may be desirable to subject the same to a number of combingopera- 1 tions, in Which case themachine may comprise a number or setsof gripping Wheels and combsor rakes With their attendant mechanisms,and 'in such case any suitable meansmay be adopted for throwing one'orm'ore of-su'ch rakes out of operationfwhen the machme s intended totreat'fibers requirrng a ieWer number of combing operations.

' The short fibers which are combed out by the actlon ofithe combs orrakes" may be guided into hoppers or chutes is suitably placed for theirreception, and" in order to facilitate this guiding operation I-Tmayprovide adjacent to eachhopper or chute a rapidly rotating disc Z havingteeth {or ser rations round its-periphery or a fan or any other suitablemeans may be adopted for the purpose.

vfhen the combed finally issu'es from" the machine it may be collectedupon a tra elling band or "any other Way found most suitable I for itseve'ntu al'hanki'ng, that is, tying into hanks;

he machine may 7 I be driven. by an electric motor m or'anyothersuitableform of prime mover With any clutchin' or loose pulley'and beltarrangement orf'other contrivan cefor permitting of the ready startingand 'stop-" ping of the machine, andv the gripping 1 ing discs for thecombings may also be am Wheels, rake-driving mechanism, and guid en'atthe appropriate speeds byjchain or belt or other suitable'xtransmissionmechanisms adopted for the purpose.

. In a modincation of the invention; Imay 7 provide two electricimotors,one forftheibelt vorconveyor drive connected thereto by wormandivvormrwheel'and skew 'orb evel or other gearing, and one fordriving,throughTthe medium of spur "gearingan'd c'hainldriv'esilao or othertransmission means, the comb shafts and fans or the like for clearingthe loose fibers. Moreover, instead of providing chutes for the latterIinay make the conveyortable of, say, sheet metal with $101)- ing sidesand an upper central part to take a wooden or other table or supportover which parts may be varied from the foregoing to transversely, alaterally 'inovable' comb for combing the-fibers in the directionof'their. length, upper andlower wheels arranged at y suit anyparticular kind of fiber or fibrous material upon which the machine isto operate or any practical requirements which the invention may becalled upon to fulfil, it being understood that-the details of'construction hereinbefore given are by way of example only toillustrate the nature, and are not intended in any way to limitthescope, of the invention; f

Having now described-my invention, what I claim'as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. A machine for combmg fibers compris-- .mga flexible conveyor on which the fibers.

are laid transversely, means for moving said conveyor, upper and lowerwheels arranged at one side of sald conveyor for gripping the fiber endsand laterally moving. combing means for combing the fibersin thedirection of their length. Y

2. A fiber combing machine according to claim 1 in which one of thewheel members is provided with a tyre of compressible-ma terial.

A fiber-combing machine according to claim 1 in which the upper wheelofapair of gripping wheels is mounted in a movable bearing and actedupon'by a counterweight.

4. Afiber-combing machine comprising in combination a longitudinallymovable conveyor across: which the fibers may-be laid the fiber.

veyor therefrom.

1 comb.

5, A-fiber combing machine according to claim/.1: having also cam meanscontrolling the movement of the combso that it-dips into the fibers onlyon the outward or active to stroke and returns to its innermost positionin a path located above the fibers. 6.. A fiber combing machinecomprising in combination a longitudinally movable con- .veyor acrosswhich the fibers maybe laid transversely, laterally movable combmeansfor combing said fibers in the direction of their length, an upper andlower wheel set to one side of the conveyor for temporarily. grippingthe ends of the fibers during the' combing operation, crank mechanismfor actuating the combing means and means for oneside of said conveyorfor gripping the ends of the fibers during the combing opera j .tion andcrank mechanism for'operatmg sald facilitating the ejection of thecombings from the machine.

7 A fiber-combing machine; according" to claim 6 having also cam meanscontrolling the movement of said combin means so I C that the comb dipsinto the fibers only on the outward or active stroke and returns to itsposition in a pathv located above c e V innermost 8. A fiber combingmachine comprising an endless belt conveyor, upper and lowe'r.

wheels located to one side of the conveyor, upper and lower wheels ontheotherxside of the conveyor and in staggered relation'to fsaid firstupper and lower wheels, and combing means adjacent each upper and lower'wheel and on the opposite sideof the con- 9. A fiber combingmachinecomprising' a flexible endless conveyor across which the "fibers arelaid, upper lower wheels hav v ing flexible rims a'nd'located on eachside of said conveyor 1n staggered relation, combing means associatedwithyeach pair of wheels and on the opposite side of 'sa'id conveyortherefrom, and'means for varying the pressure of the upper -wheels onthealower wheels 1 i In testimony whereof I have signed name tothisspecification.

r. v L PP'L'EB

